Myrotvorets operating in Ukraine is presented on the official website as “a non-governmental center for the investigation of elements of crimes once morest Ukraine’s national security, peace, humanity and international law, whose work is to provide information to law enforcement agencies and special services regarding pro-Russian terrorists, separatists, mercenaries, war criminals and murderers.”
An unexpected scandal
Last week, Ukraine and its allies criticized Pope Francis, who spoke in an interview regarding Moscow’s war, saying “the strongest are those who see the situation, think regarding the people and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate.”
Public broadcaster RTS asked the 87-year-old pontiff regarding the ongoing debate in Ukraine, whether to surrender to the Russian invasion or whether it would only legitimize the power of force.
“I think the strongest are those who see the situation, think regarding the people and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” he said in an interview in early February.
Referring to war in general, including the war between Hamas and Israel, he added: “Negotiations never mean surrender. It is the courage not to lead the country to suicide.”
Many interpreted his statement as a call for Ukraine to surrender, although Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later said that Pope Francis did not mean that.
AFP/”Scanpix” photo/Pope Francis held a large outdoor mass in Portugal
A bubble inflated by propagandists
Soon following the scandal, information appeared in the Russian media and propaganda channels that the Pope was included in the list of Myrotvorets as a threat.
The text is accompanied by a picture – a screenshot allegedly from the Myrotvorets database showing a photo of the current Pope of Rome, with the secular name Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
Among the accusations are alleged support for “Russian Catholics” and participation in the Russian Federation’s crimes once morest Ukraine.
However, in the Ukrainian database, which collects information regarding alleged crimes once morest Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, information regarding Pope Francis (or Bergoglio) there is no.
In addition, the Center for Combating Disinformation under the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on its official accounts issued a rebuttalin which the published “news” was assessed as a fake and a provocation of the Russian Federation.
Seeks to drive a wedge between believers
The logic of such special information operations is quite obvious: religious issues are fundamentally very sensitive for any society.
In addition, the Pope is the spiritual leader of a significant part of Ukrainians: the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is still the largest from all Eastern Catholic Churches.
It is quite understandable that calling Francis an accomplice of Russia would have caused a sharp negative reaction among Ukrainian Catholics.
It can also be speculated that if more people believed this lie, an inter-religious conflict might break out.
AFP/”Scanpix” photo/The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphanius, led the Christmas liturgy in the 11th century Pechorai Laura Monastery in Kyiv.
15min verdict: lie. The information regarding the inclusion of the Pope in the Ukrainian database “Myrotvorets” is a fake.
The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Metait aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More regarding the program and its rules – here.
#Pope #Francis #blacklisted #Ukrainians
2024-04-12 09:35:43
